Humans 3.0

The Upgrading of the Species

Peter Nowak

Life for early humans wasn’t easy. They may have been able to walk on two feet and create tools 4 million years ago, but they couldn’t remember or communicate. Fortunately, people got smarter, and things got better. They remembered on-the-spot solutions and shared the valuable information of their experiences. Clubs became swords, caves became huts, and fires became ovens. Collectively these new tools became technology. As the 21st century unfolds, the pace of innovation is accelerating exponentially. Breakthroughs from robotics to genetics appear almost on a daily basis. It’s all happening so quickly that it’s hard to keep track—but recently there’s been a shift. We used to create technology to change the world around us; now we’re using it to change ourselves. With vaccinations, in-vitro fertilization, and individual genetic therapy, we’re entering a new epoch, a next step, faster and more dramatic than the shift from Australopithicines to Homo Sapiens. The technology that set us apart from our earliest selves is becoming part of the evolutionary process. Advancements in computing, robotics, nanotechnology, neurology, and genetics mean that our wildest imaginings could soon become commonplace. Peter Nowak deftly presents the potential outcomes—both exciting and frightening—of key, rapidly advancing technologies and adroitly explores both the ramifications of adopting them and what doing so will reveal about the future of our species. We’ve come a long way in 4 million years. Welcome to Human 3.0.

Globe Pequot / Lyons Press

Pages: 224 • Trim: 5½ x 8½

978-0-7627-8700-5 • Paperback • January 2015 • $18.95 • (£14.99)

978-1-4930-1621-1 • eBook • January 2015 • $17.99 • (£13.99)

Subjects: Social Science / Future Studies, Technology & Engineering / Social Aspects

Humans 3.0

The Upgrading of the Species

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Life for early humans wasn’t easy. They may have been able to walk on two feet and create tools 4 million years ago, but they couldn’t remember or communicate. Fortunately, people got smarter, and things got better. They remembered on-the-spot solutions and shared the valuable information of their experiences. Clubs became swords, caves became huts, and fires became ovens. Collectively these new tools became technology. As the 21st century unfolds, the pace of innovation is accelerating exponentially. Breakthroughs from robotics to genetics appear almost on a daily basis. It’s all happening so quickly that it’s hard to keep track—but recently there’s been a shift. We used to create technology to change the world around us; now we’re using it to change ourselves. With vaccinations, in-vitro fertilization, and individual genetic therapy, we’re entering a new epoch, a next step, faster and more dramatic than the shift from Australopithicines to Homo Sapiens. The technology that set us apart from our earliest selves is becoming part of the evolutionary process. Advancements in computing, robotics, nanotechnology, neurology, and genetics mean that our wildest imaginings could soon become commonplace. Peter Nowak deftly presents the potential outcomes—both exciting and frightening—of key, rapidly advancing technologies and adroitly explores both the ramifications of adopting them and what doing so will reveal about the future of our species. We’ve come a long way in 4 million years. Welcome to Human 3.0.

Details

Globe Pequot / Lyons Press

Pages: 224 • Trim: 5½ x 8½

978-0-7627-8700-5 • Paperback • January 2015 • $18.95 • (£14.99)

978-1-4930-1621-1 • eBook • January 2015 • $17.99 • (£13.99)

Subjects: Social Science / Future Studies, Technology & Engineering / Social Aspects

Author

Peter Nowak is the author of Sex, Bombs, and Burgers, and his work has appeared in the Boston Globe, New Scientist magazine, and elsewhere. He won the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance Award for excellence in reporting, and the Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand named him technology journalist of the year. He lives in Toronto with his wife.

Reviews

Critical acclaim for Sex, Bombs, and Burgers:

“Hugely entertaining. Nowak—an experienced journalist—confidently treads where other historians of technology might avoid.” —THE NEW SCIENTIST

“An enjoyable and informative history of the surprising origins of some of the technological ‘marvels’ that underpin the modern world.” —BBC FOCUS

“Thought-provoking. You can think of it, if you wish, as a modern version of Mandeville's The Fable of the Bees, which proposed that society's vices are actually good for overall economic health.” —THE GUARDIAN

“Witty and well-researched . . . An engaging read, leaving one with several ‘I did not know that’ moments.” —THE GLOBE AND MAIL

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Features

The future of technology is the fountain of youth.

Humans 3.0

The Upgrading of the Species

Peter Nowak

Humans 3.0

The Upgrading of the Species

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